Wow, that's not okay. I'm so sorry that happened to you. I've had similar experiences myself with egging but it probably wasn't anywhere near as bad as what you went through. I hope you're doing better and are with better people who respect you for who you are.
I'm transmasc by the way. I know it happens to other femboys and it sucks for them too but for me it feels super invalidating and makes me feel dysphoric to be told I should be a girl 😭
If they're telling you you'd be pretty as a girl rather than mistaking you for one, doesn't that imply you're passing as a guy? Seems to me you could choose to interpret it as validating, in a backhanded way.
(Then again, I'm just a cis guy passing by from "all," so what do I know?)
They're invalidating me saying they think I am a girl, they see me as a girl. Maybe it's nice that I pass as male on some level with them, but they still see me as a girl in some capacity, and that's a lose in my book, since they still treat me like one, call me one, and use she/her pronouns even when I cry and tell them to stop. Also telling me that I can't be a boy because "boys don't like to wear dresses and skirts".
Maybe there's a silver lining? I'm just a clueless cis guy but for someone to talk to you from that (unkind) angle wouldn't it mean they're assuming you're male, and therefore passing?
Encouraging gender identity as a choice diminishes the struggle of trans people today. I'm not against it in principle, but the current political climate doesn't have room for this stuff. Give society 20 years to figure out how to be equitable berore peddling this narrative.
"not pursuing or discussing what the truth might be, because of political opponents".
Political opponents who want you un-existing either way, and will use any excuse and lie available to barely mask that hate of theirs.
Neither those people's "understanding", nor their amount of available means to mask their hate, really affects trans people's freedom.
The "average Joe" can't be "won over" either, because they don't care. Until something happens, to make them care. Like an a acquaintance or loved one being involved.
But in the off-chance that they can, (without being personally affected), they will be won over by recognising a truth of the world.
Victory by "reasonable vibes", is achieved by reaffirming what's already in someone else's head. It's only a victory if you're trying to not change something.
So seek the truth. Don't appeal to the good nature of the oppressor.
I don't like it either but it's a pragmatic argument. I think you're a bit out of touch with how society can move forward if we introduce polarizing ideas. We haven't wrangled how trans women fit into sports. You really think the "let's make it a choice" argument is going to help with that?
Plenty of average joes are fine with gay people now, not racist, not misogynistic. We will get there as a society if we try to find common ground. Like I said, it may take another 20 years to sort out how to be equitable to a very marginalized group of people (maybe longer). This trans is a choice rhetoric will prolong that because it diminished any common ground that we are starting to form.
Is that the take away from the comic? I see it as more someone trying to explore through clothing and someone saying theyw would be supportive?
Are we so defensive we can't even have that anymore? Are we unable to discuss gender presentation and identity detached from transition? What about nonbinary identities? Some people explore that and transition, some don't.
Are we really supposed to be regressive and call it self protection? Are we at the "respectable transgender" era along with "I'm gay but I don't know about this trans stuff" already?
He is someone who already transitioned (transmasc) and still enjoys wearing feminine clothing, what the girl did here can feel very very invalidating and dysphoria inducing because despite passing she still sees them as a girl. For me situations like that make me feel hella dysphoric.
I'm in femboy communities and I know many of them also dislike when this happens to them as well, but it doesn't compare to the gender dysphoria I get from people still thinking I'm a girl.
I agree that we really do need to discuss gender identity and presentation separate from transition, I also think we need to discuss presentation separate from gender identity, after all if boys are allowed to wear skirts, why do people naturally assume we must be girls if/when we do?